In Québec City, Wrapping Up TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced 2015

TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced 2015 entered their final stages as representatives from IEA, the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, and more than 60 participating countries and benchmarking participants met in Québec City to review draft International Reports and exhibits.

"The richness of Québec data is in large part due to its continued participation in TIMSS," Sylvain said. "Having started TIMSS in 1995, Québec can count on 20 years of results in mathematics and science."

Québec is participating in TIMSS 2015 and PIRLS 2016.

IEA Chair Anne-Berit Kavli, from Norway, also weighed in with some thoughts on the upcoming International Reports.

"The main focus should not be on the ranking between countries, but the analysis of how to use the TIMSS data, to see what works, to see weaknesses and strengths in education systems, and how they can be used to produce high quality outcomes for all," she said.

Representatives of more than 60 countries and regions attended the 8th TIMSS 2015 National Research Coordinators Meeting in Québec City.

IEA Executive Director Dirk Hastedt delivered the welcome at the start of the meeting.

Martin Hooper, Assistant Research Director, TIMSS and PIRLS Questionnaire Development and Policy Studies, demonstrated use of the TIMSS 2015 Online International Report.

Trust Mbako Masole and Mmoloki Gabalebatse of Botswana explored the website for the International Report.

Robyn Caygill of New Zealand and Nicole Wernert of Australia shared thoughts on the TIMSS 2015 Online International Report.

Annemiek Punter and Martina Meelissen of the Netherlands tested the features of the website for the International Report.

Tom Loveless, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, discussed the upcoming TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced 2015 reports and the pitfalls of using international test scores to inform policy.

Said Bouderga of Morocco, Ir Nizam of Indonesia, and Ali Juma Ali AlRasbi of Oman consulted with Oliver Neuschmidt of the IEA on the International Database Analyzer.

Milena Taneva of the IEA checked in with Kyongah Sang of the Republic of Korea during International Database Analyzer training.

Others shared valuable perspectives, including Tom Loveless, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, who spoke about common misuses of international results, how to answer commonly asked questions, and the pitfalls of using international test results to shape policy.

Stephen Provasnik, TIMSS National Research Coordinator for the United States, discussed writing in-depth reports on results for advanced mathematics and physics. Franck Salles and Sophie Edouard of France and Liv Sissel Grønmo and Torgeir Onstad of Norway offered advice on training journalists in interpreting assessment results. Sue Thomson of Australia recounted her experiences in writing national reports for Australia and other countries on behalf of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).

TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center thanks Joanne Latourelle, Québec’s National Research Coordinator for TIMSS and PIRLS, and our other generous hosts from Ministère de l'Éducation, et de l'Enseignement Supērieur in Québec.